The Gospel of Billy Martin | Billy Martin Jr.

Show Notes

On this episode of Your Dark Companion, Mike and Grubes attempt to start a normal show… so naturally the entire tech setup revolts, Billy Martin Jr. disappears into the Riverside void, and we end up with six and a half minutes of chaos, Titanic on recorder, and a heartfelt discussion on moldy elementary school instruments.

When Billy finally makes it back from the digital afterlife, we get an incredible sit-down with the son of one of the most infamous managers in baseball history, Billy Martin Sr. Billy Jr. walks us through how his dad helped keep the Rangers in Arlington, turned Texas into a real baseball town, tortured umpires on the field and then bought them drinks off it, and why “flush the toilet” is the only way to survive a 162-game season.

We also get into Billy Jr.’s life as an agent, why Pete Incaviglia might be the best manager MLB will never hire, how analytics and gut should coexist, and what it feels like to turn the same age your dad was when he passed. It’s funny, inside-baseball nerdy, surprisingly tender, and very, very Rhyner.

⏱ CHAPTERS

Formatted how you’ve been using them:

00:00:00 - Cold Open: Lightning Strikes & Ticket Nonsense  
00:01:04 - “172 of These Bad Boys” – Mike Actually Likes Podcasting  
00:01:34 - Riverside Betrays Us: Billy Vanishes Mid-Intro  
00:02:00 - Stuff, Stuff, Stuff: Mike’s Improv Theme Song  
00:02:48 - Titanic on Recorder & The Curse of the Moldy Instruments  
00:04:10 - “This Feels Like a Bust” – Ash, Shoopy & Live Panic  
00:06:08 - Cowboys, Show Banking & Mild Bickering  
00:07:13 - Billy Returns from the Void (For Real This Time)  
00:08:00 - Introducing Billy Martin Jr: Son of a Baseball Lightning Bolt  
00:09:27 - How Billy Martin Helped Keep the Rangers in Arlington  
00:11:21 - Showing Texas What Winning Baseball Looked Like  
00:13:24 - What Billy Was Really Like at Home (No, He Didn’t Kick Dirt on the Kids)  
00:14:02 - Umpires, Fights & Why They Secretly Loved Him  
00:16:03 - “Flush the Toilet” – How a Manager Survives 162 Games  
00:18:06 - Bar Stories, Jimmy Piersall & Running the Bases Backwards  
00:22:03 - From Clubhouse Kid to Agent: Launching Pro Agents  
00:23:24 - Mike Hargrove, Rookie of the Year & the Human Rain Delay  
00:24:43 - Cheating, Can Lids & Why It’s “As Old as Cracker Jacks”  
00:26:03 - Bunt, Win, Repeat: Billy’s 7th-Inning Chess Moves  
00:27:39 - Pete Incaviglia: Indie-Ball King & Why MLB Won’t Call  
00:29:12 - Labor Wars, Salary Caps & Why Baseball Isn’t Football  
00:31:11 - Killing the Minors & Scouts to Save Pennies  
00:33:28 - College Coaches to MLB: Will Players Even Respect Them?  
00:36:02 - Cashman, Boone & Managing Without Ever Managing  
00:39:28 - Mickey Mantle on Billy: Always Looking for an Angle  
00:42:11 - Personality Managers vs Spreadsheet Managers  
00:44:37 - Analytics vs Gut: Alex Cora, Bluffing the Computers  
00:52:00 - Turning the Age His Dad Was When He Died  
00:53:15 - Birthday Reflections & an Open Invite to Come Back  
00:54:20 - Where to Find Your Dark Companion & How to Keep It Alive  

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Creators and Guests

Host

Mike Rhyner

Mike Rhyner… "a little on the bumpy side, but rather likable"…so stated famously by a grade school teacher in Oak Cliff, where Mike grew up. A complicated guy, yet a guy who can do long division and remember call strike three to A Rod. Probably best left unattended. Don't expect assistance from him if a medical situation arises.

What is Your Dark Companion Podcast?

"Whatever I want it to be about on a given day; is what it is." Your Dark Companion couples your familiar friends from radio, Mike and Grubes! Mike brings his classic interviews that draw you in, and Grubes—The Devil—drops…well the drops, and throws the occasional grenade. Mike likes to draw on his fascinating acquaintances and friends allowing them to tell their stories as you've never heard them. But he also goes outside his network, sharing Grubes' network, and often outside of both, to bring you those they don't know, but believe have a story that will make you laugh, make you think, think differently, or just entertain you…"that's what we are trying to do here."